Department of Justice Proposes Update to Identity Theft Laws

Proposal Seeks to Amend Gaps in Current Statutes

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice today submitted to Congress new proposed
legislation that seeks to update and improve current laws aimed at protecting
Americans from the increasingly sophisticated crime of identity theft.

The proposed bill, titled the Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of
2007, was a significant recommendation included in the final strategic plan
from the President’s Task Force on Identity Theft released in April 2007. The
strategic plan was the result of an unprecedented federal effort to formulate a
comprehensive and fully coordinated plan to attack identity theft at all levels
in the public and private sectors.

Among other provisions, the proposed legislation seeks to ensure that victims of
identity theft can recover the value of the time lost attempting to repair
damage inflicted by identity theft. Under current law, restitution to victims
from convicted thieves is available only for the direct financial costs of
identity theft offenses.

“Identity theft has impacted the lives of millions in the United States, and its
perpetrators are constantly inventing new ways to commit their crimes,” said
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. “This proposed legislation is a firm step
in the right direction in updating our identity theft laws to meet the needs of
investigators and prosecutors who are working daily to punish identity thieves,
and help victims put their lives back together.”

The new legislation would also close gaps in the current identity theft, and
aggravated identity theft statutes. Both of these statutes are limited to
stealing the identity of an individual, and do not specifically address the
misuses of identification of a corporation or organization. The proposed
legislation would amend the identity theft and aggravated identity theft
statutes to ensure that identity thieves who steal information belonging to
corporations and organizations can be prosecuted, and would add several new
crimes to the list of aggravated identity theft offenses.

Ensuring that federal law enforcement has jurisdiction over the theft of
sensitive identity information by closing a loophole in the current statute.
Under the proposed Act, federal jurisdiction could be obtained if the victim
computer is used in interstate or foreign commerce, the same standard used in
other computer hacking offenses.

Assuring that federal law appropriately penalizes identity thieves for the use
of malicious spyware and keyloggers; tools used to look in on private
computers, and record key strokes.

Expanding the scope of the “cyber extortion” provision so that it covers such
crimes as threats to steal or corrupt data on a victim’s computer.

The Identity Theft Task Force, co-chaired by the Attorney General and the FTC
Chairman, was established by Executive Order of the President on May 10, 2006,
and is comprised of 17 federal agencies and departments. The Task Force’s
strategic plan, released in April 2007, can be found at http://www.idtheft.gov.